


I'll teach you what happiness is

by charons_boat



Series: Curses Upon the Innocent [7]
Category: The Boyz (Korea Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: :DD, Anger, Bandaging, Being tricked, Blood, Breakfast, Breaking Things, Calligraphy, Change in Feelings, Cities, Contemplation, Cruelty, Curses, Cussing, Cute, FallenUnicorn!Hyunjoon, Gift Giving, Hatred, Injury, Intimidation, Jazz Music, Lies, Luring, M/M, Magic, Murder, Panic, Playing, Promises, Regret, Scars, Set Up, Shock, Singing, Soap bubbles, Stealing, Sympathy, Teleportation, Trauma, Treating Wounds, Unicorn!Hyunjoon, UnicornHybrid!Hyunjoon, Velvet - Freeform, Violence, Witch!Kevin, Witch!Namjoon, accidental injury, apology, bad side of the city, being curses, being lied to, black unicorn, booth seats, broken glass, broken horn, broken perspective, causing harm accidentally, change in perception, change in visage, corpse robbing, cursing, decoration, destroying property, disregard for human life, fallen unicorn, fear of storms, gold - Freeform, human!jungkook, innocent!jungkook, joon long hair, kev long hair, looting, magic restraints, magical gift, outrage, pain with speaking emotions, pocket knife, pretty much emotional constipation, pure being, record player, scenery, senseless violence, tainted unicorn, taking care of strangers, thrift store, trap, upset, vinyl records
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23122234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charons_boat/pseuds/charons_boat
Summary: How do you live when the way you see the world suddenly changes? How do you survive when nature itself turns against you?Hyunjoon's answer is this: don't worry about others, because your comfort is the only thing that matters. If you happen to hurt others in your quest to stay alive, well, they should've stayed out of your way.
Relationships: Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Kim Namjoon | RM & Jeon Jungkook
Series: Curses Upon the Innocent [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1542079
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	1. don't be scared

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so first off please tell me what you think of this!! Second, I don't think Namjoon would do or act as he does here, nor do I think kevin or hyunjoon would willingly hurt people! Please remember that this is a fictionalized world!

The day was fading into darkness, the colors of the sunset having not yet fled from the sky. I paced my way through the forest, calm and steady as always, wondering how long I had until the moon rose. It shouldn't be long, as the moon was always over eager to gaze upon the land below; just as we all were eager to gaze upon her silvered beauty. 

It wouldn't be long until the moon graced the night-sky with her bright light and elegant dance. Until then, I was allowed to play, so I continued on my way to the waterfall. I passed through underbrush, thanking all the plants for their kindness in not harming me when I passed. They chattered to me about their day as I walked under the thick canopy, telling me of their days and complaining to me about their struggles with the humans. I gave them my sympathy and kept walking. I could hear the gushing of the falls over their cliff-path, and how wondrous it was. 

When the treeline gave way to soft grass, I took a moment to stop and admire the beautiful scene; it was something I did often, yet never grew tired of. And how could one tire of seeing such soft, emerald grass? Was it possible to be bored by the sound of such clear, blue water tumbling over a cliff and crashing into the rounded rocks far below? To not be moved by the burbling of the water as it fell from the cold upper pool into the larger one below, just as cold as the one above? How anyone could not hear the story of the universe in the lapping of spring water upon the sandy shore was lost on me. One must truly be blind to the world around them to not be struck by the vibrance of the water, the grass, the brilliant flowers blooming in the spray of the falls. How could they not be calmed by the fragrance of the flowers, by the taste of utter harmony in the air? It was something that would never make sense to me. 

When I'd had my fill of the sight, I took long, smooth strides towards the edge of the pool. And there in the water was the moon; I must have been thinking too long. I sighed in the pity of my lost time, but decided that such a beautiful sight was worth losing time on, no matter how many times I'd seen it before. I took a drink of the cold water and retreated to a small hill, lowering myself to rest upon it. The grass was so thick and soft that I didn't even feel the dirt that was surely beneath me. 

I stayed in that spot, letting the moon sparkle upon my white fur, letting the gentle wind thread through my mane, letting my horn gleam in the strong light of the full moon. As I lay there, I was content with my life, certain that nothing could be more perfect in this moment. 

And then, there was a voice.


	2. don't believe me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betrayal, even from someone met briefly no more than five minutes beforehand, is the most painful experience there is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :DD

It drifted to me by way of the wind, a high voice singing a semblance of a song. It wasn't something I recognized, but it called to me in a strange, unavoidable way. I stood and closed my eyes, just listening for a moment. When I heard the soft singing again, I turned towards it and followed. I walked with an unfamiliar sense of hurry, plunging into the forest with little thought. The farther I walked, the louder the voice was, and the darker it got.

By the time I could make out words, the moonlight was no longer filtering down through the leaves, the canopy too thick and wild. I followed the voice, entranced by the beautiful voice and the words it sang.

"...the cause of my euphoria…"

The song rang out around me, and I stopped in place, confused about where to go, where the voice was coming from. I whipped my head from side to side, nearly throwing my horn into the trunk of a tree in my haste to pinpoint the mellifluous voice. And all of a sudden, the voice cut off. I heard a chuckle from above, and a dark shape fell from above, quickly followed by another.

"Good job, Jungkook. Your payment as promised. You may be on your way now," the bigger shadow said. The other took what it was offered, but hesitated.

"You said you wouldn't hurt it. You won't hurt it, will you? Please don't hurt it, sir," the smaller shadow pleaded. The other turned slightly, and he nodded.

"I made a promise, didn't I? I won't hurt the unicorn, I just wanted to see one for myself. I've never seen one, y'know," the larger asked. The other nodded, and he slipped away, into the darkness. I wanted to follow him, I was drawn to him somehow, but the other man was in the way.

When the noises of the smaller shadow had faded away into nothingness, I heard a snap. The area around me lit up, revealing the larger shadow in the too-bright light given off by an orb floating a few feet above us. The man was as tall as me, with dark hair and a strong nose. His big eyes were dark, even in the light of that thing. A peculiar smell permeated the air around us, tangy and bitter and spicy all at once. I didn't know what it was.

The man stepped closer and ran a hand through my mane. I huffed and stepped back, not liking the feeling of his dirty hands on me. I'd liked the other one much better, and I didn't understand why he'd been the one to leave. He was the one who called for me, wasn't he? So where had gone? He chased after me with another step of his own, this time fisting his hand in my mane, holding me in place. I huffed again, in indignation and disbelief. I tried to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me against his chest.

"Stop struggling, pretty. You can't get out of this, not now. You unicorns are dumb as hell, running to the first pretty voice you hear," the man spat into my ear. His breath was uncomfortably warm, and it made my ear itch. I tried to pull away again, but something wrapped around me, around my legs and my neck, pulling tight when I tried to shake it off. It burned, and I reared up, screeching in pain as the things binding me burned hotter, searing through my fur and into my skin.

"Behave, you stupid, glorified horse," the man shouted. I flinched, and the thing around my neck tightened. I wheezed and stilled, trying to keep the pain at bay. He smiled smugly, and stepped closer again. I tried to back away from him, but the bindings pulled even tighter, cutting into my skin and choking me. He wrapped a hand around my horn, and I bucked wildly. This man shouldn't be touching me, shouldn't be anywhere near me.

He began speaking, in words I understood but was too panicked to comprehend. I was more focused on the straining in my horn as he started pulling back on it, bringing it towards him. I heard a small crack, and his voice made sense in my ears all of a sudden.

"And may you feel great pain when you try to speak of your emotions. May you bear the curse of Kim Namjoon for all of eternity."

And with a horrible _crack_ , he pulled back sharply and came away with the broken length of my horn in his hand. I stared at it in horror for a moment, at the way the iridescent spiral shimmered under the harsh light of the orb above. I felt something wet dripping down my face, and after a terrible second, I realized it was blood; my blood, seeping from the jagged stump of my horn. I heard rain pattering on the leave above us, and it quickly seeped through the layers to drip onto me, joining the too-red blood in trailing down my body.

And when the shock of the moment had finally passed, long after the man had gone, when the pain finally registered and spread through my body, I screamed.


	3. I know... that you're scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The unicorn felt wrong. It was less the things the witch had said and more what the witch had taken away. He felt as if his entire being has shifted a hundred and eighty degrees, completely off-kilter and despised by nature. He'd never been hated by nature before, and it hurt to feel like he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd say I'm sorry the chapters have been short but I'm not

I wandered through the forest after the man, lost and in pain. The plants were scratching me, cutting my ankles as I walked gracelessly in the direction I thought the man had gone. I needed my horn back. I wasn't feeling right, too unsure of myself and surprisingly angry at him. I'd never been angry before, and I'd definitely never wanted to inflict harm upon anyone; but this man made me feel those things, and I quickly found myself hating him for tainting me with these terrible things. 

I felt incredibly dirty, like I'd rolled around in mud. My skin was crawling with some feeling I couldn't identify, and my head was pounding with pain, sharp and hot. I stumbled, tripping on a root and falling forward haphazardly. This was unlike me; not once in my life had I tripped over anything. I looked up through glazed eyes and saw that I was in the clearing with the waterfall again. But something was wrong. 

I struggled onto my feet and limped closer, looking closely at everything. I realized, in shock and revulsion, that the colors were muted, the smells had soured, the taste of harmony had twisted into something darker and meaner. And I hated the sound of the water dropping onto the rocks harshly, hated the cold spray on my face and the lapping against my hooves. The water stung, burned my skin, made everything feel even worse than it already did. I went to step back, but I happened to glance at the water. 

I was reflected in it, as I had been every other time I gazed into the once-pretty waters. But now, I was different. In place of a horn that had once had the power to heal, I had the jagged stump of what belonged there. My coat, once pure white, was now pitch black. The blood had dried in thin trails on my face, cracked in places and clumped up in others. My eyes had gone just as dark as that man's had been, and I stared at my visage in the water before turning and running.


	4. I'll run as far as if today's the last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was just so much rage, and he couldn't really figure out how to deal with it. He did things he probably shouldn't have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: cause I pass the limit every time
> 
> Lots of death, though it's not explicitly described!! Almost updated this at 2 am last night cause it was technically sunday at the time

I trampled a child today. She was walking in my path, right through the middle of the field when she could have gone around. It angered me that she thought she could do something like that, and I just broke into a gallop and crushed her beneath my hooves.  
-  
I can't stand the smell of men, and I particularly hate what I've learned is the smell of magic. Dark hair and dark eyes irritate me, and it's best for people to stay out of the forest. The locals have learned by now that I don't want company, and people have stopped coming in. Especially those with dark hair and dark eyes.  
-  
I searched for the witch who'd cursed me and the man who'd lured me with that atrocious song. I'd come to hate the latter after a time, when the memory of his voice started twisting and souring. I wanted nothing more than to put them both in their place and to return to what I once was. I hated everything I felt, hated my thoughts and feelings and actions. But I couldn't stop, because at some point, it had become part of my nature.   
-  
I was confused when I woke up a human one morning. My skin was pale and I saw that I had scars around my wrists and ankles. When I found a puddle to look in, there was a scar around my neck as well. The stump of my horn was still there, blackened as if it had been set on fire, and black ears stood up from the tangled mass of dark hair on my head. I still had my tail, and somehow, my eyes and mouth reminded me of a cat; I hated that.   
-  
I never found the witch, but I did find the other man, the one who'd drawn me to that god forsaken spot. He walked into the forest one day years later, and I recognized his scent when he was a few yards away from me. I turned into my human form and threw a heavy rock at him as soon as he came into my field of vision. I took his clothes off his body and left him there. He was slightly shorter than me, so his clothes fit nicely.  
-  
I wandered through forests and fields, uncaring of those who saw me. If they came too close, I'd just attack them, run at them and trample them or tackle them in my human form. I'd gotten a hunting knife off some guy, and I used it as often as I used my hooves. Sometimes I'd come across people who'd survived, and I got angry. I always made sure they wouldn't survive the second time.  
-  
I let my hair stay long, so that when I was in my human form my horn would be covered. It constantly hung in front of my eyes, partially blocking my view, but I didn't mind. Why should I care that I couldn't see the ugly world around me?


	5. to burn your heart, to awaken your thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People usually left him alone when he went to bars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's longer!! There is cursing!! Haha  
> Also panic

I wandered into yet another city, wondering if this one would be any different. I didn't think it would be; everything was grotesquely ugly in cities, and I had yet to find an exception. How could anyone enjoy living in these filthy places? People lived in the trash-filled streets, and cars chugged along stone roads, spewing foul black gas into the air, just like trains had. Drunks stumbled out of bars and threw up during the nights, and fights were started over the smallest things; I was the start of many causeless fights.

I hated cities, but I could never stop myself from walking into them. Even as disgust filled me at the sight of men smoking cigarettes, I breathed in the smell of rotting food and burn-tinged fumes and reveled in the scent. The cities were nowhere near as bad as the forests were. I hated the forests.

I stayed in the city for a week before anything big happened. I'd stolen some money off someone and bought thrift store clothes -a cheap white tee and cheaper jeans, along with a fake leather jacket and worn hiking boots- along with a night in a motel. I took a shower and washed my mass of jet black hair. I brushed it and rubbed it mostly dry with a towel, deciding it could air-dry the rest of the way. I put on the cheap clothes and walked down the street into a bar.

I took a seat in a booth and watched people come and go. Drunk men chatted up half-drunk women, offering them more drinks or rides to a quieter place. Sober women pushed away drunk creeps, and people leaned out the door and shouted catcalls to passersby on the streets. People got slapped by offended customers, but no fight had broken out yet. People cast curious glances at me, and looked away quickly when they saw the glare on my face.

Someone slid into the booth across from me while I was distracted. When I noticed him, I gave him a disinterested glare; until I smelled the sour magic on him, and my eyes widened and I stiffened. I pulled back from him, put a hand on the booth, ready to bolt. I put my other hand on the pocket knife clipped to my belt loop, ready to pull it out and fight. I let myself turn so it would be easier to get out of the booth, and let my hand fall away from the pocket knife; somehow, though this man smelled of magic, I didn't want to kill him. I just wanted to run away.

The man chuckled and raised his hands, palms towards me, fingers spread. I stared at his palms for a moment before switching my gaze to his neck. There were four thick, red-pink scars over his throat, and it seemed to continue down onto his chest. They were jagged in places, like they'd ripped after the original wound was caused, and I wondered what kind of animal had done that to him. I switched my gaze to his face, to his dark brown eyes and his brown hair, just a shade lighter than his eyes. He had an amused smile dancing on his lips, and his eyes were lit in the low lighting of the bar. And something about him made me open my mouth to speak to him.

"The hell are you," I spat out the question like it was poison. His smile didn't leave his lips, and instead only got bigger.

"Kevin Moon. What's a guy like you doing in a place like this? And completely sober to boot," the witch said. I scoffed.

"A guy like me? The hell does that mean," I asked angrily. He smiled, and put his hands down. He moved around the booth seat until he was right next to me, and I tried to move away from him. I nearly fell out of the booth. I leaned away from him, but Kevin pulled me closer to him. He brought me so close that his lips dragged on my ear as he spoke.

"I mean, why's a hybrid in a bar run by humans," he asked lowly. I felt the color drain from my face before it rose back, strong and bright. I was angry, though I wasn't sure why.

"Fuck off, asshole," I shouted, pushing him away. I stumbled out of the booth and walked towards the door, fighting my way through the crowd to get out of the bar. People grabbed at me as I passed, and in any other situation I'd be throwing fists at them. Right now, I was more worried about getting away from the man who knew I was a hybrid. For the first time in a long time, I was scared of someone. I was scared of what I thought he might do to me if I stayed around him.

I heard a scream and felt a hand on my tail. What was a hand doing on my tail? I whipped around and saw that it was Kevin who'd grabbed my tail from under my shirt. In that moment, I threw a fist towards him. And just before it hit him, a glowing string appeared around my wrists, wrapping over centuries-old scars of binds just like these. My hands were yanked down in front of me and when I tried to pull them apart, the glowing binds got brighter and burned my skin. It felt so much like something that had once bound and burned me, just before Kim Namjoon broke my horn off and cursed me. The world shifted and blurred around me, and suddenly Kevin and I were in the alley outside the bar.

"Stop struggling!" _Stop struggling, pretty._ "I don't want to hurt you, I just want to talk," he shouted. I stopped trying to pull away from him and I stared, tears falling from my eyes.

"Y-you're h-"

I choked off at the sudden pain that shot through me. I wasn't sure where it originated or where it ended, but I knew it hurt like a bitch.

"S-stop, take off th-the, the-" I lifted my hands slightly, the most I could do before the binds started burning again. I sobbed and Kevin's eyes widened; he almost looked panicked.

"I'm sorry, I forgot those hurt people, I just- those are just what I always use, I- just wait a moment, I'll take them off," he said quickly, tripping over his words in his haste to say them. And he did take them off, with a snap of his fingers. The ghostly echo of a bright light flared above my head with that snap. I kept crying as pain flared up in my wrists, my ankles, my neck again, following the lines of faded pink scars; as pain shot through the jagged stub of my horn. I was shaking, sobbing, collapsing as that first, horrible day placed it's ghostly hands on me.

"Hey! Hey, what's wrong? I-I took them off, they aren't on you anymore, what's-" he cut off when I opened my eyes and looked at him. He wasn't looking me in my eyes, he was looking above them. It took me a few moments to realize he was staring at the remains of my horn, which I'd always hidden under my hair.

"Y-you're a unicorn…" he murmured. I just stared at him. "I was wondering about your tail… now it makes sense. Who did this to you?" He sounded almost angry. I stared a moment longer before frowning.

"W-why should you care? Why does it matter what I am," I asked. He hesitated.

"It doesn't really, just- it surprised me. Your kind are one of the rarest species there are. It's practically a federal offense to take the horn of a unicorn, let alone to curse one! You… this should never have happened to you," Kevin finished softly. No one had ever told me that I didn't deserve this. Though I supposed no one had ever figured it out or been around me long enough to say it. It made me cry more.

Kevin ended up taking me to his apartment and putting me to sleep in his bed while he took the couch. Eventually I stopped crying and curled up under his blankets, burying my face in them as I fell asleep.


	6. hold on tight (trust me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time, Kevin was getting a glimpse of the reason that Hyunjoon was a hybrid, and it hurt his heart more than anything ever had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beyonce doesn't exist right now so they have to listen to jazz instead

I woke up to the sound of jazz music and the smell of food cooking. I blinked confusedly, staring at the strange ceiling and the odd things around me. There were things littered around shelves, both recent and ancient. I took a deep breath when I felt myself panicking and tried to remember what had happened last night. The bar, and then a stranger who smelled of magic. _Kevin_. He'd ended up bringing me back here, and… nothing. He just sent me to sleep in his bed. Did he sleep on his own couch?

The door opened, and Kevin poked his head inside. He glanced around, smiling when his eyes landed on me.

"Good morning. How are you feeling," he asked softly.

"I-I'm fi-" I broke off coughing as my throat tightened. "I'm f-f-feeling-" I couldn't speak through my pain to answer his actual question. "I… slept well." That was all I could say. Kevin's smile faltered, but he nodded.

"That's good. I made breakfast. We can talk afterwards if you'd like," he said. His voice was just as soft as it had been earlier. I wondered why he was speaking to me like that. It wasn't something I was used to.

I bit my lip and nodded. I pushed back the covers and got out of the bed. Kevin laughed when he saw me. I scowled at him, and he shook his head quickly.

"No no, I'm not laughing at you, it's just- just really funny that you've still got your clothes from last night on. Hold on, I can get you some different clothes, though they may not fit that well cause you're taller than me," he said. I shook my head.

"No, I'm fi- I can wear this," I winced. What the hell was wrong with me, seriously? "This is just fine Kevin, don't worry about me." His eyebrows drew together when I winced, but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he sighed and motioned me closer to him. He grabbed my jacket and started pulling at it. I grabbed his hand and he raised an eyebrow at me.

"You are not eating breakfast in this weird jacket. Take it off," he demanded. I huffed but relented anyways. He took it from me and put it on a coat stand by the front door as we passed it. He led me to the kitchen and directed me to sit at a small table, bringing me a plate of bacon and eggs with some buttered toast after I'd taken a seat. He poured two glasses of milk and gave me one, setting the other in front of his own plate. He just looked at me, waiting for me to start eating.

I took a nervous bite of the eggs, and then another once I realized they weren't garbage. Kevin smiled and started eating his own breakfast, seemingly happy that I enjoyed it. I waited for Kevin to finish once I was done, unsure what to do with my dishes. He took them from me and put them by the sink, stacking the plates on top of each other and setting the cups side by side once he'd rinsed everything off. He walked out of the kitchen, and I followed him into the living room. He sat on the couch, and I sat in the recliner he had at the end of it.

"So, do you have a name," he asked me quietly. I thought for a moment before nodding.

"I guess, Hyunjoon," I told him softly. I hadn't ever introduced myself to anyone, but that was what came up when I thought over his question.

"Mm. Do you know what your curse is, Hyunjoon," he asked. I shook my head. "It must not be something that affects you all the time then. What do you remember about when you were cursed?" I looked away from his caring eyes and stared at the floor.

"I heard a song. I followed it, and there were two men. One was a witch. He sent the other man away. He… he bound me with those glowing things you used last night. H-hurt, a lot. He- he grabbed my horn and started pulling and speaking. It- he- he said _and may you feel great pain when you try to speak of your emotions. May you bear the curse of Kim Namjoon for all of eternity_. And then he broke off my horn," my voice broke, and I cut off with a sob. Kevin was in front of me in an instant, taking my hands out of my hair and holding them in his own.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, Hyunjoon, it'll be okay. You're safe now, no one is going to hurt you," he told me. I blinked tears out of my eyes and looked at him. He was crouching in front of me, his eyes searching my face.

"R-really? How do you know," I asked. Kevin smiled sadly.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, okay? As long as I'm alive, no one is going to hurt you. You can count on that, Hyunjoon. I'm going to protect you with my life, with absolutely everything I've got. I'm always going to protect you," he told me. He sounded so sure of what he was saying, I couldn't help but believe him.

"You barely know me. I'm a terrible person, I… I've killed people, Kevin. A lot of people, for little more than crossing my path. I'm not someone you should protect like that, Kevin," I told him. He smiled.

"You aren't the only one, Hyunjoon. I hurt people just for fun. I like hurting people. There's an entire branch of magic devoted to causing pain, and I'm the one who figured out almost all of it. I've only ever hurt people, Hyunjoon. But you… you're the first person that I feel no urge to hurt. I don't want to hurt you, and it's the first time I've ever wanted to protect someone. I hate that someone took your horn and made you turn black. I hate that someone would dare to trick you and hurt you like this. Don't feel bad about things you've done, Hyunjoon, because I've done terrible things too," Kevin said softly. I stared at him with something akin to shock for a moment.

"You're telling the truth? You aren't lying to me," I asked quietly, in almost complete disbelief. I barely believed he was someone that would hurt anyone, based only upon how he'd treated me. Though, there had been the burning binds, and as my eyes dropped to his neck, as I saw the jagged scar extending over his collarbone and down towards his chest, I was reminded that he must've done something really bad; nothing lashed out in a manner severe enough to cause a wound like that for no good reason.

"Kevin, where'd you get that scar from?"


	7. healing of a long pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They relaxed into each other and it was as if they'd always known each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not an April fools joke I'm just bored.

He told me the story of Choi Chanhee, a sphinx he'd cursed and bound to him by way of a contract; he was terribly young, and just as cruel as he was now, but he was cockier and less restrained. He hadn't been able to resist the temptation of besting a sphinx, he said. He'd been terrified when he actually succeeded, because the sphinx had attacked him. The wound had ripped when he teleported away, because he'd gone as far as he could and he hadn't been very good at teleporting; he still wasn't much good at it. He told me that the contract had been broken ages ago, and he'd come to regret what he'd done. 

The entire time, his soft voice was full of regret and pain and disgust. He was right. He'd done very horrible things, and for a moment I was unbelievably angry that he'd forced upon someone else what had been forced upon me; but then it passed, because he regretted it, and he said he hadn't made any hybrids since the sphinx. He'd done terrible, disgusting things, but he'd almost died for them and he wished he hadn't done them, and he didn't want to do those things to me. And that was enough. 

I let him wash the dishes and I changed the vinyl in his record player; he had to explain those words to me, and I thought it was really cool that he could play music whenever he wanted without needing someone else to play it for him, though I didn't tell him that. I let him sing the rhythms of the songs that played, and I hummed along myself at parts. I let him put bubbles from the sink in my hair, and I let him get away when I ran after him threateningly. I let him laugh at me as I glared at him. 

Kevin let me sit in the kitchen after, let me watch him washing dishes; it was oddly soothing combined with his poor renditions of the jazz music. He let me scoop up some bubbles and rub them into his hair while he was "distracted", and he let me trap him in between my arms when he tried to retaliate. He let me laugh, let my laugh reverberate through him and be echoed by his own. Kevin let me finish the rest of the dishes while he danced around to the music, distracting me constantly. 

We let each other act however we wanted. We let each other behave nonsensically without the fear of being judged, because we were both crazy and terrible. We let ourselves relax around the other; we let ourselves show a side of ourselves no one had ever seen before. 

We danced around the kitchen and living room together, the dishes sitting unfinished in cold water that no longer held pretty white bubbles. We teased each other, played tag, and hide-and-seek, and first-to-laugh-loses. We were exhausted by the end of the day, and like children (according to Kevin) we made a blanket fort in front of his couch and piled up leftover blankets and pillows inside of it, and we curled up in it after changing into pajamas (another thing I learned from Kevin) and fell asleep.


	8. look at me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't so easy when Kevin wasn't around. Existing was as simple as breathing when Kevin was there, but without him Hyunjoon felt like he was drowning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of angst!! Please note there are mentions of being injured, glass shards, fear of storms, and panic. 
> 
> Posting this in celebration of my two perfect scores on my trig papers!!
> 
> SOMEONE MADE BEAUTIFUL FANART FOR ME HAVE HWALL AND KEVIN BEING SAD CUTIES [Kevin and Hwall fanart](https://twitter.com/KeiEri931/status/1293837753847820289?s=20)

Kevin had been working on something for weeks. He wouldn't let me see it, and he wouldn't even let me open the drawer the thing was hidden in; it had some kind of security spell on it that shocked me when I tried to open it. I eventually gave up trying to figure out what it was, but that didn't mean I wasn't curious. 

We followed a routine of sorts; Kevin would make breakfast and wake me up, and we'd eat it and try to do dishes (though that activity didn't always end up completed) with music playing in the background. After that, we'd play around together, or ask each other questions. Kevin really liked cats despite being allergic to them and hated by them, and he really enjoyed singing, even if it was just the silly singing he did to the jazz songs that played, and he hated being called Hyungseo. I told him that I wanted tattoos, but I'd never trusted any of the artists enough to let them anywhere close to me with those machines. Sometimes, Kevin would disappear into his room to work on whatever he'd been doing, or he'd have to go somewhere outside the apartment because he'd been contracted for the day. Those days were my least favorite, because he always came home very late, always smelling of strangers and blood. 

But everyday, right before we went to bed, I'd tell him to sleep well for me, and he'd make me promise not to have any nightmares, and I'd call him Kev or Keb and he'd call me either Joon or Hwall (a nickname he'd made up, though I had no idea where he got it from) and I'd ruffle up his hair before going to bed. He'd been letting it grow out some more, just to see what it was like, and it was nearly to his jawline already; his hair grew freakishly fast, whereas mine did not, and there was a reason I didn't get haircuts as often as Kevin did.

Today was another day that he'd been contracted, this time as many other times as a torturer. I was left alone in the house with the vinyls and my thoughts and the brewing storm. 

I played the vinyls as loud as I could, trying and failing miserably to drown out the raging winds outside the apartment. This was going to be a terrible storm, and Kevin hadn't even been gone for an hour. At some point, the combatant noises of the storm and the vinyls got to be too much, and I put a stop to the music very violently. Lightning flashed outside the window and thunder followed soon after, and there was a crash as the record player hit the floor. I must have thrown it.

I wanted Kevin to come back. I'd always hated storms, too bright and too loud, too cold and too wet and far too lonely. Just like always, I was alone; alone in the apartment that smelled of Kevin and I, of his sour magic and sweet concern and my warm joy and hot hatred for everything not Kevin Moon. 

An especially bright flash of lightning turned the darkness into day again and not a second later thunder rolled through; it sounded like someone had ripped the sky open. I screamed and backed away from the window; I hadn't even realized I was so close to it. I walked into the side table on accident, and a lamp fell to the ground. The sound of glass shattering echoed through the room in time with another flash of lightning, and I whirled around to see that the lightbulb in the lamp had broken. I yelped as I felt a sharp pain in my foot, and I lifted it to find that there was glass under my feet, and dark blood. I stumbled away from the glass, trying to watch where I was going this time but still breaking the coffee mug on the edge of the coffee table. 

I fell back and sobbed as I hit the ground hard, hard enough to knock the breath out of me and dot my vision with bright spots. I just lay there for a moment, letting the pain radiate through my shoulder blades and spine, and I screamed as the sky-ripping thunder rolled again. I hated this, I hated being so scared by something so stupid as a storm. The fact that I wished Kevin were here to make it better made me feel incredibly pathetic and weak; since when had I ever needed anyone to make me feel okay? 

Outside the window, lightning flashed like a strobe light, the sky never dark for more than a quarter of a second. Thunder rolled constantly, a continuous rending of the cloud-darkened atmosphere. I curled up on the hardwood floor, feeling the blood on my foot dry while I sobbed at the phantom sensation of pelting rain on my skin. It stung, too hard and cold to be outside, but I'd always been outside for storms, no matter how unpleasant they were. 

What Kevin came home to that night was this: a light drizzle, barely enough to wet his hair; the scent of blood and the broken skipping of a vinyl on the record player, somewhere on the floor to the left; the sparking of the broken lamp on the floor next to its proper place; and Hyunjoon, curled up and sobbing on the floor, a broken mug on the floor a few feet away from him. 

Kevin stood there for a few moments, not comprehending what all those pieces put together meant, before something clicked firmly into place; Hyunjoon was crying, and though he wouldn't be able to tell Kevin explicitly that he was in pain, his crying was enough. He only cried when he was hurting. 

Kevin dropped his bag and ran over to the sobbing hybrid, who flinched away before Kevin murmured quiet reassurances into his ear. Hyunjoon let Kevin pull him into his lap, let Kevin stroke his hair and rock him while he cried. The broken unicorn let the witch calm him down, let the witch apologize for not being here. The hybrid didn't tell Kevin that it wasn't his fault that he didn't know of the hybrid's fear of storms, just tried his hardest to stop crying because he knew Kevin hated it when he cried.

Hyunjoon fell asleep in Kevin's lap, the blood on his foot long-dried, the storm long-gone.


	9. when I see you, I'm different

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was something new for both of them; Kevin only ever caused pain to those he met, after all. He'd never tried to fix the hurting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soft noises

When I woke up, the world was draped in silence for a moment. I kept my eyes shut, drinking in the peace of that single second where nothing moved or breathed. In that single second, it felt almost as though the world had reverted to centuries before, to grassy clearings with a cold waterfall and an unshakeable aura of harmony; and then I heard Kevin's heartbeat, and his chest moved as he breathed deeply, and I was reminded that the sense of perfect harmony in that place had been shaken, and that I hadn't enjoyed that place for hundreds of years. 

I opened my eyes, and saw that I was resting my head on Kevin's chest, ear over his heart; that was why it thudded so strong and loud. I sat up, and I saw the mess in the apartment. He'd taken the vinyl out, but the player was still a wreck on the floor. There was still glass and thick ceramic on the floor, and dried blood stained the floor between pieces of glass. I pulled my foot into my lap and poked at the wound in my foot, from the glass I'd stepped in. I whined at the sharp pain, and Kevin startled awake. 

He looked up at me from his place on the floor, looked at me poking my foot, and sat up. He nearly gave me a black eye from sitting up so fast, barely avoiding smacking his head into my eye. I huffed at him, but all the same I let him take my hand away from my foot. He told me to wait where I was and stood up, going to the bathroom and coming back with a first-aid kit. He opened it and shuffled through the things inside, looking somewhat confused. 

"Uhm, hold on let me- I gotta read the instructions, I don't do this often. Don't touch your foot, Joon," he said. I nodded and crossed my arms, watching him as he read the sheet of paper. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his nose scrunched up. He'd pause and grab things from the little box periodically, muttering things to himself. Eventually, he put the paper down and exhaled harshly. 

"I'm gonna try my best, Joon, but I don't make any promises. I've only ever been good at causing pain, but I'm going to try my hardest to avoid that. If I start hurting you too much, just tell me to stop, okay," he asked. I nodded. He smiled, a small, tight thing that didn't look very enthusiastic.

He had me lay on my stomach and put my foot in his lap so he could get at my cut better. He told me what he was going to do before he did it, as a sort of way to comfort me. It worked a bit, while he was running a wet cloth over my foot and cleaning all the blood off. He had to open it again, because there was apparently glass in my foot; which made sense, but really sucked because it meant everything he did to my foot pressed on the little slivers and pushed them farther into my foot. He ended up having to use magic to get them out, because the glass pieces were just too small and fragile for him to grab with tweezers. He put hydrogen peroxide in my foot, and then some antiseptic, and at the end he put gauze over the cut and wrapped it up with bandages.

I couldn't stop my whines and yelps throughout the entire process. I wasn't used to pain, and while I'd been through worse, this entire situation had hurt just enough to get me to cry. He set everything aside and pulled me into a tight hug and traced his fingers over my spine, letting them rub little circles into my skin. I stopped crying soon enough, and he picked me up and sat me on the couch while he cleaned everything up. He replaced the lightbulb and lamented over the loss of his record player, for which I apologized repeatedly; he told me to stop apologizing because I'd been scared and it hadn't been my fault, and that he could always buy a new one. 

When everything was cleaned up, he sat by my side on the couch and let me hug him. We sat there in comfortable silence for a while before I looked up at him. He was already looking at me while his fingers tracked gentle lines through my hair, gently stroking my ears and working tangles out of my hair. 

"Kevin, I'm really so- I shouldn't have made a mess last night, it was silly of me to be so scared of the storm. I… I'll work on making sure it doesn't happen again in the future," I said softly. He scoffed and shook his head. I was scared for a moment, scared he wasn't going to accept my apology. 

"Hwallie, I'll tell you again, you aren't in the wrong for what happened. It's perfectly fine for you to be so scared of storms, lots of people are. You don't need to worry about how much of a mess you made or might make in the future; I've got enough money to replace whatever gets broken. I'm the one who needs to change things. I'm going to keep an eye on the weather from now on, and if there's even a chance of a storm like the one from last night, I'll stay home. So long as I have control over it, I'm not ever leaving you alone during another storm," Kevin said. I stared at him, wondering how in the world I managed to find someone like him. A terrible person just like me, one who didn't want to hurt the other, just like me. How we managed to find each other in a cruel world like this was beyond me, but I was glad it had happened. I was glad for that night in the bar. 

Before I could think about it, I surged upward and pressed a kiss to his lips. He sat there in shock when I pulled away, his eyes wide and his lips open only slightly. 

"I l-lo-" I cut off, coughing. Tears sprang to my eyes. It hurt. "Kevin, I'm in l-" I huffed angrily and balled up my hands. I took a moment to breathe and close my eyes, before opening them again and looking straight into his worried eyes. 

"Kevin Moon, I-I'm in l-lo… I love y-you," I said, forcing my way through the pain that tore at my throat and clenched around my heart, my voice breaking a couple of times as I said it. But I'd done it, no matter how choppy or painful it was. I voiced out my feelings. Kevin started crying, and he pressed a kiss of his own to my lips. 

"Me too, Hyunjoon, I'm in love with you too," he said after he pulled away, his hands still cupping my face. I put my hands over his and smiled. Everything was right in the world in that moment, and nothing could make this any better.


	10. you're kinda special

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In many ways, Kevin was unexpected. Because of him, Hyunjoon was able to experience so many new things that he'd have never even fathomed existed otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's soft as all hell I can't I just can't I'm gonna combust they're so cute help
> 
> ALSO WE GET JUNHAOSHUA NEXT YETH
> 
> Why must I always write sleepy bois

Turns out, I was wrong. The next day, Kevin woke me up by calling my name, a gentle _"Hyunjoonie~"_ that stirred me from a haunting voice that had long ago lured me to my demise. I blinked sleep from my eyes, whining over the bright light of the sun shining through the window. As my eyes cleared up more, I looked up at Kevin and his blinding smile, and the sun was highlighting strands of his hair. It was like he had a halo, and it was something I'd never seen before, so I just stared up at him despite being uncomfortable on my stomach.

"Joonie? You good?"

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. As I sat up, I ran sleep-clumsy fingers through my hair and shook out my other arm; it'd fallen asleep. I yawned and sat criss-cross on the bed in front of him, slightly hunched over and just looking for a few more seconds.

"Yea. Jus' tired, s'all," I answered. He smiled.

"Good. So, I know you've noticed the drawer, and that I've been hiding out in my room and telling you to keep out. And like, I'm really sorry for being so secretive and cold about it, but I really wanted it to be a surprise. So, uhm, here," he said, sounding nervous as he handed me a black box with gold calligraphic writing on it.

_With the greatest degree of love, Kevin Moon. I hope you wear this proudly, my pretty Hwallie_

I glanced up at him after reading the fancy lettering. Not easy, but it was very pretty to look at. I'd probably cut the top of this box off and frame it. He was staring at me, or maybe at the box, biting his lip. Was he worried I wouldn't like it? Well, then again, I kind of was, too, so his (possible) fears weren't unfounded.

I gently lifted the lid from the bottom half of the box and set it to the side, carefully making sure to keep my eyes off whatever was in the box. I closed my eyes as I faced forward again, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes and chancing a look into the box.

At first, I was perplexed. It was a ring of gold, loaded with intricate filigree that rose up and sloped slightly inward from the thick, rounded ring. The object sat nestled in soft, black velvet, something I'd felt before. I ran the tip of my finger over it anyways, just because I knew it would feel nice. It was very fine, and very soft. I stalled my finger by the edge of the golden mystery, letting my gaze run over it for a few moments before gingerly picking it up with more care than I'd ever given anything before. It was heavier than I expected, and I knew it must be nearly pure gold. When I picked it up, I saw that there were little rays extending from the outside of the ring, resembling the wavy rays of the sun decoration Kevin had in the living room. I let it rest in my hand before looking up at Kevin.

"It's beautiful. What is it, though," I asked. He blushed, slightly. His hand rose to scratch at the back of his neck before his eyes shifted to me, flitted away again.

"It's, well… I mean, witches often gift their familiars or hybrids with stuff like this, jewelry and stuff. And yeah, some are like, possessive like 'don't touch this one he's mine' but mine isn't, it's not like- well, I guess it kinda is, b-but a witch's gift to their, uhm, companion, can be like, signs of affection too, and generally you can tell if a gift is out of affection or possession, and I guess I was like, uh, hoping you'd kinda just realize that my gift was like, an affection thing, but like-"

"Kevin, calm down," I said, giggling a little. "You're rambling. Take a breath and try again." He stared at the ground for a second before nodding, taking a few deep breaths, and looking up at me.

"Well, I made you a gift. I spent a lot of time on it, because I wanted it to be just as perfect and pretty as you. You deserve that much at least, after everything you've gone through. I made it as a way to express my affection and to show everyone else that such a beautiful man is spoken for and to keep away- well, if you do think of yourself as spoken for, that is," he said, suddenly sheepish. I laughed and nodded. He smiled. "It's not something a lot of other hybrids would have either, well, not like the one I made, anyways. It's uhm, it goes around- well, hold on, let me see it and I'll put it on."

I handed him the filigree ring of gold and he moved closer to me. He brushed my bangs aside and pressed a kiss to my forehead, above the remains of my horn.

"Stay still. It'll feel a little weird, cause I kinda enchanted it to do this thing. We'll go to the bathroom after, so you can look in the mirror, 'kay," he said. I nodded. He smiled and then focused back on what he was doing with his gift. "I sure hope I guessed right," he muttered. I giggled.

I felt his fingers trace gently over the more jagged edge, and he sighed, equal parts regretful and mournful. The light touch sent weird twinges through my body, little electric zings of energy. I started humming, and I felt his fingers flinch a little. I smiled and kept humming. He joined me after a moment, humming a bit lower and with a different melody, making music with me. I felt something hard touch the stump of my horn, something slightly warm. It took me a moment to realize that it was the golden thing that'd been in the box. I felt little tingles start to spread through my forehead, around my horn, even in my horn.

I blinked up at him as he stepped back. He smiled softly, a warmth filling his eyes. His eyes met mine and he put his hand out towards me. I took it with a nervous smile and let him lead me to the bathroom. He opened the door and flicked on the light. He covered my eyes before I could even glance in the direction of the mirror and took the moment of surprise to walk me over in its direction.

"Open your eyes in 3… 2… 1… now!"

He took his hands from my eyes and I opened them, staring in the mirror. I didn't comprehend what I saw for a moment. First was the ring of gold, very thin and delicate around the base of what I had left of my horn, which was confusing because hadn't it been thicker before? Then I noticed that the filigree and the wavy rays were gone, and I moved closer to the mirror. My bangs fell in my face, and I moved them out of the way with one hand, holding them back while I looked. It was only when I was closer that I noticed that shapes of the filigree seemed to have imprinted themselves in the black edges of my horn. The rays had done the same on my skin, bright gold shapes against my pale skin. The ring looked as though some of it's thickness had melted and flooded up my horn and down onto my skin. I had no idea how he managed to make it do that, but it was beautiful.

I covered my mouth and my eyes filled with tears. Kevin was watching me through the mirror, and I saw the moment he went from nervous to concerned. I turned to face him as a tear fell. He was panicking.

"Kevin, I-"

I threw my arms around him, too overwhelmed with emotion to even think about saying anything. Not that I really could anyways. He stood stock-still for a moment, all tense and confused, before he melted with relief and wrapped his arms around me.

That night, I shifted back into my unicorn form for the first time since I'd met him a month and a half ago. He just stood there and stared for a long moment before running reverent hands through my dark mane and down my back. He cupped my cheeks in his hands with the most bewildered smile on his face, and he pressed kisses all over my face. I snorted and stamped my feet happily, and the rest of the night was pure adoration and love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha i wrote [The Battle between kyunyu and hwallvin](https://twitter.com/sunwooseok_/status/1365355157278449664?s=20)

**Author's Note:**

> My twt and curious cat are both @catfacekathryn!! I'd love to talk with you!!


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